'I don’t think it’s changed': Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon talk about aging in Hollywood as they promote their new show Feud: Bette and Joan

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They might be playing Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in the 1960s, but not much has changed in Tinseltown since then according to these actors.

Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon talked about limited options for women as they age in Hollywood on a panel at the Television Critics Association 2017 Winter Press Tour, held in Pasadena, California on Thursday, according to Mashable.

Sarandon, 70, and Lange, 67, will play Davis and Crawford, respectively, in a new FX television series titled Feud: Bette and Joan.

Telling it like it is: Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon talked about limited options for women as they age in Hollywood on a panel at the Television Critics Association 2017 Winter Press Tour, held in Pasadena, California on Thursday, according to Mashable

Things stay the same: They might be playing Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in the 1960s, but not much has changed in Tinseltown since then according to these actors

The series will not only chronicle the never-ending battle between the two ladies that spanned nearly their entire careers, but also what issues they faced as aging women in the entertainment industry in the 60s.

'I don’t think it’s changed that much really to tell you the truth,' Lange told reporters from the stage.

'The line has been pushed,' Sarandon said, of the current state of Hollywood affairs. But 'aging actors still have the same problems. I can guarantee that.' 

'It’s not necessarily a question of age or looks,' Lange went on. 'I think it is who is interested in these stories. If the powers that be don’t find there is anything valuable or interesting in a story about a woman of a certain age, those films aren’t going to get made.'

Playing icons: Sarandon, 70, and Lange, 67, will play Davis and Crawford, respectively, in a new FX television series titled Feud: Bette and Joan

Biographical drama: The series will only chronicle the never-ending battle between the two ladies that spanned nearly their entire careers

State of affairs: 'The line has been pushed,' Sarandon said, of the current state of Hollywood affairs. But 'aging actors still have the same problems. I can guarantee that' '

That reality is what led to the creation of Feud by Ryan Murphy.

'We were interested in doing a show about two women and their lives and the problems that they have,' Murphy said. 'I wasn't interested in doing anything too 'campy.' I was interested in doing something deeper, emotional and painful.'

Murphy didn't come to this realization all by himself, though. This project started for him when he formed a foundation called Half in early 2016.

The goal of that organization was to help the writer and producer ensure that half of the directors on all of his projects were women, people of color and members of the LGBT community, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  

Same problems, different day: 'I don’t think it’s changed that much really to tell you the truth,' Lange told reporters from the stage

Creator: Feud creator Ryan Murphy wanted to tell a story about the lives of women

Getting started: This project started for him when he formed a foundation called Half in 2016

It was talks with people involved with Half that drove him toward telling the story of Davis and Crawford, as it culminated on the set of 1962's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Murphy said the women he spoke to brought it to his attention that stories about women, for women and employing the talents of women both in front of and behind the camera were lacking.

'What i love about [Feud] is it is set is in 1962, but the themes and issue in the show are so modern,' he said. 'Women are still going through this stuff today — nothing has really changed. We wanted to dig into that aspect.'

Driving force: It was talks with people involved with Half that drove him toward telling the story of Davis and Crawford, as it culminated on the set of 1962's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane

Listening: Murphy said it was brought it to his attention that stories about women, for women and employing the talents of women both in front of and behind the camera were lacking

Lange echoed that sentiment. 

'Joan was 10 years younger when she did [Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?] than I am now, but her career was finished when she did this film,' Lange added.

'Part of what this film does is investigate what that does to a woman... Particularly Joan, who was known for her tremendous beauty. What happens when that beauty is no longer viable, because it's connected to youth?'

And because Feud follows what happened on the set of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? it only makes sense that a central story line in Murphy's new series focuses on that same thing.

It looks at 'what Hollywood does to women as they age,' Lange said, 'which is just a microcosm of what happens to women generally as they age.'

Parallels: 'Joan was 10 years younger when she did [Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?] than I am now, but her career was finished when she did this film,' Lange said

Aging in America: 'What Hollywood does to women as they age... is just a microcosm of what happens to women generally as they age,' Lange said

Going deeper: Feud will go deeper than what the world already knew about the relationship between Davis and Crawford, as it was portrayed in headlines

In that way, Feud will go deeper than what the world already knew about the relationship between Davis and Crawford, as it was portrayed in headlines.

'Although I do still think they [Davis and Crawford] are hilarious and their interactions are hilarious — we didn’t want to avoid that. But we wanted to hopefully take it away from what people would expect, and make it [a] little more emotional.' 

Lange, Sarandon and Murphy were joined on the panel by executive producers DeDe Gardner and Tim Minear, and series co-stars Catherine Zeta Jones, Kiernan Shipka and Alison Wright.

Feud premieres March 5 on FX. 

Big names: Feud series co-stars include Catherine Zeta Jones, Kiernan Shipka and Alison Wright

Feud: Lange, Sarandon and Murphy were joined by executive producers DeDe Gardner and Tim Minear, and series co-stars Catherine Zeta Jones, Kiernan Shipka and Alison Wright